August start for Edelweiss project

May 15, 2002|By Peter Comings

GAYLORD - Construction of a 52-acre shopping complex will begin in August now that Gaylord City Council members have given their approval to the second reading of a planned unit development ordinance for the Edelweiss Village Shopping Center near M-32 and Dickerson Road.

Council members passed the second reading Monday night, only altering an allowance made in the first reading for an electronic messaging board for the business' 100-foot billboard on I-75 near the 282 interchange. The message board was removed and additional sign space granted to signs on M-32 and Dickerson Road.

John Ovington, president of Auburn Hills-based TBO Realty, stated Wal-Mart is still the only company to have signed a lease in the project for a 203,000-square-foot super center.

The plans present another anchor store and several smaller stores sizes for which Ovington would not share the names of any tenants.

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"We have signed letters of intent with several stores but we don't want to announce (names) until there are signed leases," he said. "We need to go through and get all our building permits. We'll schedule a closing in August and begin construction thereafter."

The property is being listed by Re-Max of Gaylord.

In a related matter, council members also approved two engineering bids from Capital Consultants for a total of $218,950 for designing and bidding public improvements.

As a part of the project, Dickerson Road will be expanded to three lanes from M-32 south to Van Tyle Road and a new deceleration lane will be added eastbound on M-32 for a total cost of $2 million. The city will pay $900,000 for the work.

"That won't occur until after bids are taken," said Gaylord City Manager Joseph Duff. "We anticipate bids to be let in late July, early August with construction to start early after."

After experiencing early opposition from residents concerned about traffic, lighting and the impact of the development on the community, no one spoke out against the approval Monday.

In an unrelated matter, the city will send out notices to 24 properties on Old 27 South notifying property owners they have another 30 days to connect to city water and sewer services or face the possibility of a court order.

Properties fronting the highway were brought into city limits five years ago since which time, according to Duff, nearly 60 properties have complied with the requirement they connect to city utilities. The city notified property owners last fall the time had expired, but granted the winter months as a grace period.

Duff told council members there had been some activity in the last month but city attorney Steve DuBois said Monday night he, Duff and city clerk Rebecca Curtis felt getting a court order would be the only way to get the rest to abandon their wells and septic tanks.

In other action council members:

* rescheduled their second May meeting to Tuesday, May 28 at 7 p.m. because of the Memorial Day holiday.